Monster
by folie a plusieurs
Summary: "Katara, what are you-" He stops when he catches sight of the full moon. His frown deepens as the realization hits him like a ton of bricks. Blood Bending. Kataang. One-shot MOVED from my old account: TheCoolestLoserYouKnow.


_**Moved from my other profile, TheCoolestLoserYouKnow.**_

**A/N: This is set just after The Puppet Master. Which is season three, episode 8, I think. It's sort of… an alternate ending =)**

**Disclaimer: I **_**obviously **_**don't own. **

**xxxxxxx**

That night, the stars shone bright and the moon was a full one. Aang was curled up beside Appa, fast asleep. In the far corner of the clearing they were staying in for the night, Toph had set her earth tent up and had been snoring loudly for the last hour. Sokka laid comfortably, wrapped up in his sleeping bag, mumbling in his sleep about meat and Suki.

Katara on the other hand, couldn't sleep. No matter how hard she tried, the nightmares still came. Especially tonight, when the moon was at its fullest. She didn't think anyone ever realized just how much learning to blood bend had affected her.

She felt it made her a monster. She didn't ask for this evil power, nor did she want it. But she knew she was stuck with it. It wasn't something she could just forget. Even if that was all she wanted.

She sat on a large rock with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the moons reflection in the water of the medium pond in front of her as she held a small ball of water just above her hand. She wished things could always be as peaceful as they are now. But they were in the middle of a horrible war. Nothing was going to be peacefully for a while.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she never saw the shadow of a certain air bender and she never heard the sound of twigs snapping behind her.

"Katara? Is that you?" She was startled to hear Aang's sleepy voice. She dropped the water and turned her head slightly, just now noticing the tears that had fallen from her aqua eyes.

She cleared her throat before answering. "Yes, Aang. It's me," She whispered, trying not to wake anyone else up. "Did I wake you?" She asked the bald monk as he comes to sit beside her, secretly glad he was the one that woke up and not anyone else.

"No, I woke up on my own," He is silent, studying her face. When she notices, she tries to hide it. "You're crying," He points out as she wipes a few tears away, trying to make it look like she was just scratching her cheek.

"What? No, I'm not-" She swallows. "Crying" She turns her head the other way, away from Aang and the moon. After the whole blood bending incident, she appeared as though she didn't want to talk about it. Any of it. But, deep down, that's all she wanted. To let it out. To have someone who would break through the walls she built up to keep every one out. She wanted someone to care enough to try to open her up, to see past those walls.

"Liar," He whispered, scooting closer to her. He knew it never seemed like it, but he liked that she cared for him. He was glad he had her, and he wanted to care for her to. But she never gave anyone a chance. He was going to try his darnedest to get her to let him in.

"I'm-" She tries to chokes back a sob, but fails. "Not crying" She says as she cries. Katara hated showing emotion in front of people. Especially Aang. The way she see's it, he has the whole _world _to protect and she didn't want to be a distraction.

"Katara? What's wrong?" Aang asks as the water bender sobs. He sits there for a minute, everything is silent, all that can be heard is the girls sobs.

Aang wraps his arms around Katara, pulling her into him for a hug. She wraps her slender arms around Aang and cries into his chest, just noticing he doesn't have a shirt on. Katara blushes slightly at the realization that Aang is shirtless, but continues crying.

"Shhh, it's alright, Katara, shh" The younger of the two whispers in to her ear. They sit like this for a while. Katara crying and Aang comforting her.

"Oh it was horrible!" She cries into Aang's bare chest. Saying something for the first time in the twenty minutes they have been sitting there.

He sighs, thankful that she is finally giving him a clue as to what she has been crying about for the last twenty or so minutes. "What was horrible, Katara?" Aang questions, frowning.

"The nightmare I had. I just- I hate this ability!" She says through the tears that were falling faster. "I don't want it!" She screams, crying even harder and hitting his chest with her balled up fist, before collapsing against him again.

Aang is shocked. He has _never _seen her lose it like this. He tightens his grip on her.

"Katara, what are you-" He stops when he catches sight of the full moon. His frown deepens as the realization hits him like a ton of bricks. _Blood Bending. _"Katara, I know what you think," He whispers into her ear. He knew what she thought of herself with this ability, but she was wrong.

"And what's that?" She says, trying in vain to calm herself down.

"You _think_" He makes sure to emphasize 'think'. "That you're a monster because of this ability. But… You aren't. And you could never be one" Aang says like it's obvious. And it is. He knows her better than almost anyone, and he knows she's not a monster.

"How would you know?" She whispers, her breath tickling his neck. She rests her head against his shoulder, hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

He struggles to hold in the shiver her breath on his neck caused. "Because. You're you. And well, it's just," He pauses, searching his brain for a word. "Impossible. Completely impossible for you to be a monster" She smiles a little at his words.

She had never realized that, just because she had the ability to do it doesn't make her a monster. It's whether or not you use it. And what you use it for. And in her case, she never even thought to use it. There was always another way. _Always. _

"Thanks, Aang. You have no idea how much better I feel," Katara let's Aang go and sincerely smiles at him.

He returns the smile, saying nothing. Just staring into the water benders eyes. "There so.. Blue," He whispers, sounding almost in awe. He has always loved her eyes. They were her best feature.

"Huh?" She asks, more than a little confused.

"Your eyes. They're so blue" He clears his throat. There is an awkward silence for a few minutes as Aang silently wishes he didn't say anything.

"Well, um, thanks I guess" Another awkward silence ensures. "I'm going to-" Katara is cut off by Aang's lips on hers. She gasps in shock and he uses this to his advantage as he shoves his tongue in her mouth. She closes her eyes and melts into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

He slowly pulls away after a few minutes, ignoring her protests. "Katara, I know we can't be together now, not until after the war is over. But I just want to let you know that," He pauses. "Katara, I love you. More than anything" He smiles, looking into her eyes.

She pulls him in for another kiss, "I love you too, Aang" She whispers against his lips.

But they both knew that.

**xxxxxxx**

**A/N: Okay, you guys (and girls) know the drill! Review! Do it. You know you want to! So yeah, why are you still reading this? You should be reviewing =)**


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